All Rise...

The Charge

Play Misty for me.

The Case

Misty of Chincoteague is a perennial children's classic. Marguerite
Henry's tale to of two children who want to catch and tame a wild pony won the
Newbery Honor when it came out in 1947, and there hasn't been a horse-loving kid
in the past 60 years who hasn't cherished the story at some point. The 1961
adaptation came to DVD several years ago as a dump bin cheapie and Koch Vision
has resurrected it just in time for your youngster's yearly yuletide naggings
for a pony of their own (Hi mom!).

Every year the residents of Chincoteague island travel to nearby Assateague
to round up the wild ponies and sell the foals. In three years, the pony known
as The Phantom has never been caught, but young Paul and Maureen Beebe want her
to be theirs more than anything. For months they plan and save, but what they
didn't expect was for The Phantom to show up on the big day with a baby in tow.
Not only do the two need to find a way to gentle the wild horse, they need to
find the money to bring home baby Misty.

Between Misty, Flipper, and
A Dog of Flanders, director James B. Clark is an animal film veteran from
days before family movies had to be sticky sweet or involve jokes about horse
apples and hooves to the groin. Misty was filmed on the real
Chincoteague, with the real wild horses that live there. For kids who love the
book (and adults who still have their copies) it's pure magic, but other viewers
will find the movie slightly clunky. The script is heavy on horsey and
historical exposition and necessary facts are dropped into the dialogue in
awkward chunks. Lines like "I'm the richest man on the whole island because
I've got you for grandchilden" are especially cringe-worthy coming from a
writer who penned so many memorable moments and minor characters in Them!. Luckily, Ted Sherdeman has also given
Maureen a dose of spunk so the "no girls allowed" attitude of the
early '60s doesn't sting as much as it could.

The film keeps the same gentle tone as the book and it delivers its lessons
without spoon-feeding them to the audience—work hard, be smart, and earn
the things you want. I'd like to think those ideas still ring true, even though
television is constantly telling me otherwise. Darn you modern kids, with your
Blackberrys and your Berkin bags!

Koch's version of Misty is the first time the film has been seen in
its the original aspect ratio, probably since its release. The included DVD
trailer uses footage similar to the quality of my 2003 VHS copy and seeing the
cleaned up feature is like stepping into Oz. What used to look like a watercolor
now glows with the jewel tones of the Virginia coast. There are still some
picture problems, minor ghosting during the beach shots for example, but
otherwise the transfer is amazing. Having the movie cleaned up and in the
correct format more than makes up for the absent extras, although they could
have at least acknowledged the book with a text page.

Misty is never going to rival My Friend Flicka or National
Velvet when it comes to classic horse films, but the cozy, simple story is a
good bet for kids who want more ponies than plot.